Like this:

Max Girardo, managing director at RM Auctions, talks with Betty Liu about Maserati’s move into the lower-end luxury car market with the Ghibli, priced at $65K. He speaks on Bloomberg Television’s “In The Loop.”

SUV sales are forecast to surge 23 percent this year in China, outpacing all other segments for a second straight year. Automakers from A to Z are vying for consumers’ attention with their new models on display at the Shanghai Auto Show. Bloomberg’s Stephen Engle reports. (Source: Bloomberg)

Like this:

What will the car of the future look like? Will it drive itself and communicate with other vehicles in order to avoid traffic accidents? Will it be loaded with advanced sensors and have greatly reduced emissions compared to today’s cars?

In the infographic below, the folks from InsuranceQuotes try to imagine the car of tomorrow, taking these and other likely possibilities into account. No matter which technologies are used, the car of the future is likely to be smarter, safer and more efficient. Check out how it compares to today’s cars.

Here at Mashable, we’re fans of all things cutting edge, and that most certainly includes the gadgets that get you from A to B. In the world of vehicles, the newest and freshest offerings are all electric.

New products from Tesla Motors, Elon Musk’s Silicon Valley-based electric vehicle company, are always a hit. But Tesla’s not the only company producing super speedy high-tech vehicles; in fact, cars are just the tip of the electric-vehicle iceberg.

Take, for example, the JR-Maglev MLX01, an experimental magnetic levitation train developed in Japan. It uses magnets to move and stay on track, and is capable of topping 360 mph. Meanwhile, France’s Train à Grande Vitesse uses old-fashioned wheels, but also runs on electricity, and has traveled as fast as 357 mph.

The spiffy looking Tesla Roadster Sport can hit 125 mph, but that doesn’t even place it in the top two of fastest electric cars. A pair of electric motorcycles — the Lawless OCC Rocket Bike and Mission R — would also dust it in a drag race. The Roadster Sport, however, has them all beat on looks.

The infographic below, which comes courtesy of the British website carfinance247.co.uk/, gives us a rundown of all the world’s fastest electric vehicles. Tesla is represented there, along with the aforementioned “superbikes” and high-speed trains, but there are a few funky-looking suprises as well. Check out the full infographic for more; then let us know in the comments: Which futuristic vehicle would you most like to take for a spin?

Forget Ursula Andress, Halle Berry and Denise Richards. It’s all about Lotus, Aston Martin and BMW. In addition to the most beautiful women, James Bond is always guaranteed to have the sweetest, most technologically advanced cars on the planet.

In the newest 007, Skyfall, our favorite British secret agent drives a 1963 Aston Martin DB5. That bad boy can reach a max speed of 143 miles per hour, but will probably cost you upwards of $100,000 to own yourself. Bond’s also driven Aston Martins in the last three films before Skyfall and in several more before that, going as far back as 1964′s iconic Goldfinger.

The infographic below, which comes to us courtesy of the British website carloan4u.co.uk, gives vital details on all Bond’s cars since the original Dr. No in 1962 and then couples that info with how much money each film raked in at the box office (all numbers adjusted for current inflation rates).

Check it out for the full scoop on all of 007′s awesome cars and let us know which is your favorite in the comments.

For the past few decades, hopeful automobile owners made decisions based on gas mileage, vehicle size and leather interior. Now, a projected 62,400 Americans will choose to purchase an electric vehicle in 2012.

The cheapest highway-legal EV starts around $30,000 for the Mitsubishi i-MiEV, but competitors such as Ford, Chevrolet and Nissan are all vying for a higher range and lower cost.

The Obama administration’s target of 1 million electric vehicle sales in 2015 is aided by the more than $1 billion in government spending for installing charging locations, improving and building lithium-ion battery plants and supporting developing systems.

Take a gander at the graphic below, provided by VroomVroomVroom, for more detailed information on electric vehicles.

Like this:

Automobiles have transformed dramatically since the first mass-produced Ford Model T car hit the consumer market about 104 years ago. But the evolution still continues, with gas-guzzling vehicles slowly turning into energy-efficient roadsters.

UK-based company Car Loan 4U has released an infographic highlighting the history of the car and it’s transformation into what we see in vehicles today.

The infographic highlights some of the most fuel-efficient cars in production, from the 2012 Chevrolet Volt to the Ford Focus E (76 miles) and the Renault Fluence Z.E. (115).

It also hints at the industry ahead: “In the near future, electric cars will outperform petrol cars in every area. The only thing that stands in the way of electric cars total domination is us. At current adoption rates, by the year 2030, only 7.1% of the car-driving population of the planet will own an electric car.”

Futurists, meet your car of tomorrow. We know plenty about how digital technology is reshaping computing, smartphones, personal relationships and business. But what about something most of us depend on every single day — the automobile? Digital tech is also changing how we use and interact with our cars, and in more ways than you probably realize.

Vehicle-to-vehicle communications, for example, could help automobiles detect one another’s presence and location to avoid accidents. That could be especially useful when it comes to driverless cars — another advance already very much in development. Similar technology could help ensure that cars and their drivers slow down for school zones or stop at red lights.

And the cloud isn’t just for small mobile devices — cars also use it. Cloud computing powers much of the audio streaming capabilities and dashboard app functions that are becoming more commonplace in autos…Read More

With a final-lap finish and poignant win by Dario Franchitti months after good friend and fellow driver Dan Wheldon was killed in an on-track accident, this weekend’s Indy 500 auto race was one for the ages.

But how did the event play out on social media?

Franchitti was the big winner there, too. He was mentioned nearly 30,000 times by fans on Twitter during the Indy 500 weekend. The next most mentioned driver, Takuma Sato, didn’t even break 8,000.

Franchitti also added more than 4,700 Twitter followers over the course of the weekend. Brazilian driver Rubens Barrichello, however, got the biggest boost in followers, adding more than 16,000 to his total number. Tony Kanaan, Marco Andretti and James Hinchcliffe also added more than 1,500 followers apiece. Josef Newgarden saw the biggest bump on Facebook, increasing his audience there by nearly 30%.

Overall, the Indy 500 generated about 210,000 tweets from fans and media. Not surprisingly, the American audience was most engaged — almost 90% of tweets were in English, and 75% came from the United States. When did fans take to Twitter most? After crashes. Six accidents caused big spikes in Twitter action…Read More

Like this:

Throughout the James Bond series of films and novels Q Branch has given Bond a wide variety of vehicles with which to battle his enemies. Among the most noteworthy gadgets Bond has been equipped with various vehicles that have numerous modifications to include weapons systems, anti-pursuit systems, alternate transportation modes, and various other functions. The most famous of all is probably the Aston Martin DB5.

The infographic below gives an oversight of the James Bond cars and more. It is pretty much “The Ultimate James Bond Vehicles Guide”. Enjoy.

Like this:

The Bugatti Veyron Super Sport reached a Guinness World Records-certified top speed of 431 km/h or 268 mph. However, as Guinness notes, the cars shipped to customers are restricted to 258 mph — to protect the tires, which don’t hold up well at the higher speeds. The Veyron Super Sport has four enlarged turbochargers and bigger intercoolers; the 16-cylinder engine has a total of 1,200 horsepower and 1,106 lb.-ft. of torque. It is the fastest road car in production. The SSC Ultimate Aero held the previous Guinness record of 255.83 mph. The Bugatti Veyron Super Sport, depending on production details and foreign-exchange rates, will cost between $2.4 to $2.6 million.